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Eating Well

We should think about our diet as we get older. There are so
many different diets that this is not the place to go into them.
In any event, we are not saying that you ‘have to go on a diet’.

What we are saying is that we should be careful not to increase
our food and drink intake in retirement and that it is worth
making sure that we eat fairly healthily. So eat your
portions of fruit and vegetables every day and try not to eat
too much fatty food. At our age, we have sufficient common sense to know
what is sensible and what is over the top. Don’t go over the top
too often!

There are lots of good low fat or no fat cookbooks around and in
almost any health shop or chemist you can pick up leaflets about
various types of healthy food. Enjoy your food and drink in
retirement but be wary of over-indulging.

In particular, today’s healthy eating messages try to draw
attention to the imbalances in the average UK diet. Hence, we should
eat:

More fruit and vegetables – five portions per day.

More starchy foods - bread, pasta, cereal and potatoes -
in order for us to maintain our energy levels.

More fibre that can help protect us from heart disease
and bowel cancer

Less fat and fatty foods. On the other hand, oily fish
is good for the brain and heart.

Fewer salty foods. Processed food tends to have a lot of
salt in, so fresh food, cooked from first principles, is
better.

Fewer sugary foods and drinks.

Eating healthily can also save you money! Buying food that
you have to cook yourself, rather than buying stuff that has
been prepared and cooked for you by someone else, is usually
cheaper.

Other ways that following healthy eating advice can be cheaper
include:

Making a casserole rather than buying more expensive
items such as chops

Making a casserole or stew using less meat and adding another
source of protein such as red kidney beans instead

Serving larger portions of bread, pasta or rice with
smaller portions of meat or fish

Choosing vegetables and fruit in season when they are
good value for money

Doing some exercise and eating and drinking sensibly are the
keys to staying fit and healthy. so how about growing your own
vegetables if you have a garden? If not, perhaps you could get
an allotment and grow produce there. In that way, you will be
getting some exercise and fresh air and also reducing
the salt in your diet which comes from packaged and processed
food. You might even enjoy the satisfaction of growing your own
food!

More Information

If you would like some more information about eating
healthily and well, have a look at the
British
Dietetic Association website. You can get
information on maintaining or losing weight, eating healthily,
getting support and a host of other topics.

Age UK have
some
very useful fact sheets on staying healthy in later life,
including key messages about a healthy diet. Click on the link
and you will see the range of fact sheets, in particular one on Healthy
Living and one on Healthy Eating.

Staying Fit and Healthy links

You might like to look at the website of the British Nutrition Foundation. You will find help with all
aspects of nutrition including facts about food additives (which
you will find if you click on 'Food Science/Labels' once you are
on the website).

Many people take dietary supplements, vitamins and so on, to
augment their diet and to compensate for some deficiency. For
example, many people who suffer from arthritis, or who wish to
avoid it in the first place, take Glucosamine and/or cod liver
oil capsules. Certain vitamins and minerals protect us against
osteoporosis. If you wish to make an informed decision about
whether or not to use supplements, go to the Office of Dietary Supplements website where there is a
wealth of information.

If we do take some exercise and eat well - and both can be very enjoyable - it will enable us to live life to
the full and make the most of our later life. We will be full of
energy and vigour and therefore able to do all those things that
we wish to do.

Now click on the links in the box and read about the other
aspects of staying healthy and fit in later life.

This Guide is written by Retirement Specialist Dave Sinclair supported by members of the LaterLife team. As well as writing on retirement matters Dave is Training Director at LaterLife and responsible for the content and continuous improvement of LaterLife's Retirement Courses.